A New Beginning

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"Who's this?" Jared, her husband, asked when Maria brought Jesse into the house. Jared was a lumberjack. He was a tall man, with strong and bulging muscles. He certainly looked intimidating to those who don't know him. In this case, Jesse. But Maria knew that Jared was nothing but a big ol' teddy bear. He would never intentionally hurt anyone, let alone a child.

"This is Jesse." Maria pointed him in the direction of the kitchen, and Jesse scurried off, still afraid of the big man.

"Where did he come from? Surely his parents are looking for him."

"That's the thing, though. He hasn't got any."

"What do you mean?"

"Can I have a sandwich, Maria?" Jesse called from the kitchen.

"Yes. Do you know how to make one?"

"Yes. I think so."

"What do you mean, he hasn't got any? Surly he wasn't wandering the streets alone."

"He was by the fountain. He says he's waiting for someone named 'Gabe'."

"Gabe?"

"Yes. Apparently, this 'Gabe' left the poor child all alone by the fountain, and told him to wait there. Well, he waited, all right. That's for sure.  As soon as this Gabe gets back, I'll give him a piece of my mind! How dare he leave his son all alone. He could have been hurt! Kidnapped, of worse!"

"I completely agree. In the meantime, however, we must decide what to do with Jesse."

"Can you help me, Maria? I think I did it wrong."

"I'll be right there!" she continued, in a whisper, "That for now we should let him stay. If this Gabe person doesn't come back, we'll see if he wants to stay with us."

"We'll adopt him?"

"Well, I've always wanted children, Jared, you know that. We've tried for so long. Maybe...this is a sign?"

"A sign?"

"Maybe we weren't meant to have children...oh, Jared, I don't know."

Distantly, they heard a crash, followed by Jesse murmuring, "Uh-oh."

"Oh dear, I'd better go help him." Maria hurried off to the kitchen to help, and couldn't help but laugh at the scene that greeted her.

Jesse had two pieces of bread out, and every kind of meat that they had was spread out on the kitchen counter. He had a bit mayonnaise on his hand, and the jar was on the floor in pieces.

"Oh dear, what on Earth are you doing?"

"Making a sandwich, I think."

"Well, how about I help you?"

Jesse looked at the meat on the counter, then at the jar of mayonnaise on the floor.

"That seems like a good idea."

So Maria and Jesse set to work. Soon enough, the mayonnaise and the glass were cleaned up, and Maria had put almost all of the meat away.

"Would you like a rueben sandwich?"

"Rueben?"

"It's my favorite kind," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Alright," he nodded.

As it turned out, he really loved rueben sandwiches.

Over the few days, Jesse began to think that maybe Gabe wasn't coming back. After all, Gabe had said that he would only be gone a little while. Well, it had been a little while, hadn't it?

He asked Maria. "Maria, how long will Gabe be gone?"

"I don't know, child. I really don't."

"I'll stay with you until he comes back, okay?"

"That sounds like a plan."

...................................................

As each month came and went, Jesse forgot a little bit more about the man who abandoned him. He became more invested  in his new family. He wasn't afraid of Jared anymore.

He started school. He made a new friend, Lukas Porter. He was happy.

As months turned into years, he forgot all about Gabe...


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⏰ Last updated: Aug 14, 2017 ⏰

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